Ellington

I'm just going to be honest. Once my day starts, I don't always eat enough fruit, and as a vegetarian, I need non-animal forms of protein and other nutrients. I get too busy to think about it, though.

So my favorite way to stock up for my day is a morning smoothie; I can hide all sorts of power ingredients inside. Here's my recipe; you figure out your own measurements.

Makes two one-pint smoothies.
I take a regular size blender and fill about half of it with organic frozen fruit—either one type or a combination. (I love mango and peach together). I then add a banana and whatever other fresh fruit I have sitting around, if any, especially berries, kiwis, blood oranges. Then I pour in half soy-rice milk (I buy my mixed version at Rainbow Whole Foods) and half organic fruit juice (here you can really get creative on flavors: guava anyone?) to cover the mixture, which now is about two inches from the top of the blender. I dump in about two big tablespoons of non-fat vanilla yogurt (dairy or soy), scoop in some soy protein powder (from Rainbow, too), a dollop of flax seed oil or ground flax and a vegetarian nutrient mix Rainbow has in the bulk section (yellowish flaky powder stuff).

Then I blend on high for about a minute, dump into pint beer glasses and share one with Todd. If we're in a hurry, I put them in plastic to-go cups.

Couldn't be easier—especially if you then fill the blender bowl with water (and organic dish soap) so nothing dries on.